I like to think that saison can be that beer for champagne drinkers. It is an approachable beer because it’s so varied stylistically. Defined as a harvest-driven beer brewed with whatever is locally available, no two saisons are the same. And there’s a breed of them that is dry and crisp, light in body, spicy to taste, and often barrel-aged. Champagne drinkers seeking a convert beer—or craft beer fans seeking to convert their champagne-drinking friends—should experiment with the following saisons.
Saison Dupont
Often noted as a benchmark for the saison beer style, Saison Dupont has been brewed at Belgium’s La Brasserie Dupont since 1844. This orange-hued, effervescent beer is simple in structure, brewed with clean pilsner malt. The beer, which undergoes refermentation in the bottle, finishes dry, much like a dry champagne does, with a prominent hop-forwardness.
Funkwerks Inc. Saison
Funkwerks Saison, a popular beer out of Fort Collins, Colorado, is modeled after Saison Dupont. This tawny, orange saison pours with a rocky white head. The beer’s aroma is reminiscent of passion fruit, tangerine, and black pepper. Its flavors suggest orange, lemon verbena, ginger, and pepper, and it finishes with a dry, lingering bitterness from dry hopping. The Funkwerks Saison’s fruit notes and estery aromas will satisfy the palate of any champagne drinker.